Rusty's Surf Ranch To Feature Reggae Rock Band PapaFish Tonight

Posted Oct. 7, 2011, 2:41 am

Roger Morante / Sports Editor

Veer away from the weekly grind and feel good with the fresh sounds of reggae rock band PapaFish at Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier tonight, Oct. 7.

Other bands scheduled to play include Jason Reid who will open the evening with some pop rock at 8 p.m. The funk rock of Uncle Charlie will follow at 9:15 p.m.

Headliner PapaFish will hit the stage at 10:30 p.m. and feature a quintet of talented musicians rocking out to the catchy lyrics of female singer Nancy Rae Pride and the bumping saxophone of Tony Sangiacomo.

Senators of Rome will follow PapaFish at 11:45 p.m.

Anyone familiar with PapaFish will know their songs are idealistic in nature, especially when it comes to their song “Attention,” where Pride sings the poignant story of a girl’s naïveté while pining away for unrequited love as she blossoms into womanhood.

“Attention” is a highly intuitive song that comes from the “perspective of a girl and is about a guy playing with her and not really being honest because he doesn’t really want to commit,” said Greg Menjivar, lead guitarist of PapaFish. “Twenty-first century relationships are very shallow and no one wants to be honest with their feelings anymore. We’re too scared to be honest with ourselves or get to know (our significant other) as a person. The girl (in the song) is frustrated because the guy doesn’t want to be real with her.”

Members of PapaFish began playing together a few years ago after meeting as undergraduates at Cal State Northridge. Eventually jam sessions led to practice sessions, finally leading to the formation of a legitimate band.

“I organized a jam session every Thursday night on our balcony,” said Menjivar about the origins of the band. “We developed a core group of people who decided to stay and become part of our band (that) we eventually named PapaFish.”

Other notable songs by PapaFish include “Alpha Dog” and “Siren,” which succeed in fusing the quintessence of reggae and rock by adding ska-styled tempo changes to strong bass beats, rock guitar, and hard drums, creating refurbished sounds somewhat similar to those made by 90’s rock bands Sublime and early No Doubt.

Menjivar said their music mixed a number of different types of rock sounds influenced by bands such as Incubus, Rush, Jimi Hendrix, Coltrane, Muse, and Third Eye Blind.

Menjivar, who plays a Gibson Les Paul Classic electric guitar, has been performing with PapaFish at Rusty’s Surf Ranch for about two years. The band has been called upon multiple times this summer by Rusty’s to play right after the Twilight Dance Series events wrapped up on the Santa Monica Pier.

“It’s given us great exposure,” Menjivar said. “We were looking on getting our music out there and Rusty’s was really nice to us and did a good job helping our band get started.”

Rusty’s Surf Ranch restaurant and bar is open to all ages. A $7 cover will be charged to anyone 21 and older from 7:45 p.m. $12 wristbands will be issued to those underage who want to enjoy the night.